Smile Again
by KingxLeon21
Summary: Summary on the inside I've given up tryin' to do them out here. I'm not entirely sure about the Generes so i wouldn't pay that much attention to them.
1. How Far

Time for a lil houskeeping **I do not own Naruto or any of its charaters. Naruto may seem a bit OOC (that was on purpose). Might be other characters OOC as well (its hard to keep track of all of these personalities). If so, i apologise.**

Now onto more important matters. This is the first chapter of a story that i have been workin'on. It is short, reallly short (878 words), other chapters are longer (Cross my heart). I haven't finished all of it yet but i do have 4 chaptes of it done.

Summary: Nauto comes back and he's a little down. Sakura doesn't know why but she thinks that she has a solution. (or somethin' like that, ya'll kno how I am wit summaries. Sorry.)

This may start to make less and less sense as it goes along. when it does just let me know and i'll insert a chapter to try to tie it all together.

Now on to the main event: i present to you my second Naruto Saga (might be a bit over the top) Smile again. Please Read, Enjoy, and Review Thank you.

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How Far

It was a long and difficult mission. He had to infiltrate an enemy camp and rescue some prisoners. He was exhausted. He fought as hard as he could to release them. Four of the prisoners didn't make it and three had already died in waiting. But the team was able to rescue the remaining thirty. The prisoners had to be returned to their respective villages and this extended his mission.

But it was finally done. His mission was a success and he could return home. He usually wasn't in such a rush to get home but this time was different. This time his best friend had to stay at the village to assist the Hokage. Her regular assistant was sick and unable to perform her regular duties. He rushed to get home; to see the smile that graced her beautiful face; to see that pink hair that made her stand out; to see those enchanting green eyes.

"Sakura-Chan," He shouts with great exuberance.

"Hi, Naruto," she smiles at him "How did it go?"

"We saved who we could, but," his smile fades "we didn't reach them in time to save them all."

Sakura looks at his face and starts to worry "Well don't worry Naruto I'm sure you did your best and the prisoners who did make it are very grateful." She looks at him and sees that her statement didn't make him feel any better. "I'm glad you made it back one piece, Naruto." She said in a comforting but worried tone.

He hears the concern in her voice and tries to cheer up. "Yeah, well see ya later Sakura-Chan." He turns and leaves.

"See ya later Naruto." She says still worried. She walks through the village towards the Hokage's office. _Naruto was really down. What can I do to cheer him up?_ She racks her brain and then sees a couple sitting on a bench talking. All of sudden she got the perfect idea. "I'll get him a date." She now had to figure out who she would set him up with.

She reaches the Hokage's office. "Tsunade-Sama, I'm requesting that I be released a bit early. I've got something important to take care of."

"Hmm," Tsunade looks up from her papers "Ok fine most of the work has been done for the day so you may go."

"Thank you Tsunade-Sama." She turns to leave and then decides to ask the hokage for help. "You know Naruto pretty well right? I wanna set him up on a date but I don't know what type of girl he would like. For some reason he's never discussed it with me."

"Why don't you just date him?" the Hokage asks casually, "I'm sure he would love that."

Sakura blushes "N-No I'm not his type." She quickly replies.

"Hmm-Hmm." The Hokage replies in disbelief, "well I don't know what his type is but I do know that he wants to be loved and appreciated." The Hokage pauses before continuing, "Love will happen naturally, of course, so you should focus on trying to set him up with someone who would appreciate his company."

Sakura thinks for awhile and gets an idea, "I've got it! However I will need to use a messenger hawk Tsunade-Sama."

Tsunade's eyes widen at the thought "I can't just give you a messenger hawk to use for personal reasons."

"Come on Tsunade-Sama, it's for a good cause. Think of Naruto." Sakura pleaded

"Absolutely not, we must keep these hawks in case an emergency occurs. We cannot notify our allies without them."

Sakura can see that arguing will get her nowhere. She decides to try a different approach. "You know what? You're right. Maybe I _should_ take Naruto out." Tsunade gets a confused look on her face, "_Maybe_ I'll take him out to the new casino I saw on the way home. You know the casino right? If you can't remember, then these pictures that I have may jog your memory a bit." Sakura takes out some pictures of the Hokage dancing on a table in her underwear, obviously drunk.

"WHERE DID YOU GET THOSE PICTURES?" Tsunade asked in disbelief and horror. She snatches at the pictures but Sakura quickly pulls them back.

"Ah-Ah-Ah, now it would be a shame if these pictures were to become public knowledge. If only I had a messenger hawk. Then, maybe these pictures could be sent away with them far away to _never be seen or heard of again_." Sakura was feeling triumphant and a little scared. She didn't like the idea of being on her master's bad side. She liked the idea of having to fight her master even less. However, she would not be denied.

She thinks it over. _So you would go this far to see him happy?_ "Very well, I'll allow you to use a messenger hawk" She dismisses Sakura. M_aybe she'll realize it one day._ Tsunade returns to her work.

Sakura hurried home and wrote a letter and the next morning she tied the letter to the hawk and sent it to the mountain shrine.

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Well there's chapter one its short but don't worry other chapters comin soon. Please Review I need feedback. Regardless of whether you decide to review it or not I hope you enjoyed readin this as much as i enjoyed wirting it. Thanks for readin' and til next time, Deuces! (that means see ya later)

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	2. Wait, Why

Second verse same as the first **I do not own Naruto**

ok so this chapter is very very short due to writer's block (major understatement what i had was somethin like writer's stroke) but the chapter is up anyway I now present to you Chapter 2 of Smile Again.

I'm done askin for reviews. it means alot that you decided to take time to read my story so that is review enough for me. If you decide to review my story that is great but youdon't have to. Thank you Please read and enjoy.

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Wait, Why

Sakura hurried home and wrote a letter and the next morning she tied the letter to the hawk and sent it to the mountain shrine.

The priestess received the letter a couple of days later:

_Dear Shion-Sama_

_I hope that you are doing well since we've last seen you. We've been well, except for Naruto. He's been a little down lately and I was hoping for a favor. I was wondering if you would go out on a date with him and see if you can raise his spirits a little bit. I would greatly appreciate it if you could visit the village. I miss his upbeat attitude and his hyperness (if that's a word) in general. I would be eternally grateful if you could bring the old Naruto back. Thank you_

_Sincerely Haruno Sakura_

Shion and her attendants hastily made their way to Konoha. Naruto had been down since he last spoke to Sakura and even stranger was the fact that he hadn't even spoken to Sakura since he had returned. Sakura didn't receive a reply and was starting to get worried. She decided to ask Naruto out herself. "Um, Naruto," She asked nervously.

_Wait, why am I nervous?  
_**Because we like him!  
**_We're just friends.  
_**But we don't wanna just be friends!  
**_You are part of my body and you will do as I say_!  
**Fine! Whatever! But this isn't over!**

"Hey Sakura-Chan." The words were the same but the tone was that of a man who had been defeated.

Seeing this, Sakura had a new resolve, "I was wondering… How would you feel about a date," Naruto couldn't believe it he was speechless

Naruto was able to finally find his tongue again, "Sure Sakura-Chan." Seeing her friend smile, she was relieved.

Sakura looked past Naruto and saw the priestess coming. She was even more relieved. "Good, because I set you up with an old friend of ours." Naruto was disappointed with news that he wouldn't be going with Sakura but still appreciated the gesture. He kept his smile and the priestess came up to meet them.

"Hi Sakura-San. Hi Naruto-Kun." The priestess greeted them with a smile. "I got your letter and I came as fast as I could." She turned her attention to Naruto, "I guess this means you've decided to reconsider my offer to _help me_ continue the line of priestesses." She said with a smile. Sakura heard this and began to get upset at the statement.

_Wait, why am I getting angry?  
_**She just got here and she's already makin' her move!  
**_Isn't that what she's here for?  
_**We were so close!  
**_Shut up! Besides I was talking to myself!  
_**Baka! I am your-self!  
**_Then do what I say and shut up!!  
_**Fine but you better not blow it! I'm serious!!**

Naruto was unaffected by the statement, as usual. Shion just laughs "So, where are you taking me?"

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Well there you have it my short (but hopefully at least mildly entertaining) chapter 2. the next to chapters will be a decent size. There was something else that I wanted to say but i can't for the life of me remember what it was. Oh well thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed it.


	3. Lying to Myself

This is so troublesome **I don't own Naruto**

As promised this chapter is longer ( about 1300). Sorry about the bad description of their clothes but I'm terrible at that sort of thing (I do that worse than I do summaries).

That being said I give you chapter 3 of Smile Again. Please enjoy boys and girls

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Lying to Myself

Shion just laughs "So, where are you taking me?"

Naruto was caught off-guard with this question, and rightfully so. After all, he just found out that he had a date. "Uhh… Umm… Ahh…" Naruto racks his brain, "I know how about we go to my favorite place to eat and then I could show you around my village." Shion was fine with this plan as she didn't have one either.

Sakura was happy that every thing seemed to be going well, "Great, I will take Shion-Sama to my house to help her get ready and Naruto will pick her up from there at 7:00. Wear something nice Naruto."

Its 6:45 and Naruto is rambling through his closet to find something to wear. "I suppose black and white would be nice." He finds his black pants and jacket. He wears a white T-shirt under it. He finds his white shoes and puts them on and he reviews himself in the mirror. "This should be good." He makes his way to Sakura's house. He knocks on the door.

"I'm coming!" Sakura yells back, "Ok Shion, now you look fit for a night out." Sakura had taken Shion out and bought her a black dress and some shoes to match (I'm horrible with women's clothing). Sakura runs to the front and opens the door. When she sees Naruto she can't believe her eyes.

_Oh my…  
_**God! He's Gorgeous!  
**_Ok Sakura, focus. You've got something to do._

"H-Hi Naruto," She said nervously, "Uhh… Shion will be ready soon." She rushes to the back room. "Ok, are you ready?"

Shion looks over herself in the mirror. "Sakura, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, what's up"

"Why did you call me to go on a date with Naruto?"

"I explained in the letter. Naruto has been fee…"

"No. I mean why'd you call me when you could've done this yourself?" Shion turned to face Sakura, "I think he would've been happier on this date if it were with you."

"No he wouldn't be. I'm not right for him, and besides, we're just friends." Sakura hesitates every time she says that. "It's complicated, but I know Naruto... and I can't make him happy."

"Why do you think that?" Sakura doesn't answer.

"Naruto's waiting and I'm sure you'll have a great time." Shion sees Naruto and they greet eachother and set out on their date.

**I don't believe that you just did that!  
**_Did what?  
_**Sent him out with that … that… that…  
**_Don't say it. Naruto will be happy again. That's all that matters._

"So where are we off to first?" the priestess asks enthusiastically.

Naruto decides that he should make the most of her visit. After all, she did come all the way from her mountain shrine. "First, we are off to Ichiraku's Ramen Shop." Naruto exclaims, matching the priestess' enthusiasm.

"Well Naruto I see you brought along a date tonight." Says the owner of the eatery.

"Yeah, what's the special for tonight?"

"Beef ramen with the works."

Naruto felt that he should take it easy on the ramen tonight because he had a guest and the beef wasn't his favorite. "I'll take two of the special. What would you like to eat, Shion?"

"Can I have the special with chicken instead of beef, please?"

"Since you're with Naruto, I think I can do that. He's one of our best customers."

They received their food and ate. They talked about their respective villages and the recent developments of their villages. After they had finished eating Naruto showed her around the village. He took her every where: From the Hokage's building, to the park, to the alley ways. Then he took her up to the mountain side with the Hokage's faces carved on them. Shion was a little tired from all of the walking so they rested up here for awhile.

"The village is beautiful from up here." Shion gazed at the village in awe. "Naruto-Kun," Naruto was looking at the village almost as if he wasn't really there. Shion's voice brought him back. He looks at her. "Why have you been so down lately?"

"I haven't been …" Shion cuts him off.

"I talked to Sakura." Shion pauses to wait for any kind of response. Naruto doesn't give one. She continues "She's really worried about you."

Naruto smiles a bit "She thinks that it's because of a mission that didn't go well. And at first that was the reason but that is the price of war and I know that. The reason I'm still down is because no matter how I feel about her she will always be in love with Sasuke." He stops a bit and looks at Shion. She nods signifying that he should continue. "Later that day, when I had come back from a mission, I went to see her. She was asleep on the couch holding a picture of Team 7 to her chest and I've avoided her ever since." Naruto's voice starts to break a little but he regains his composure. "What hurts the most is that all of these feelings that I have for her must be kept inside. My main goal is that she stays happy. That has always been my goal, and if that means I have to disappear then…" Naruto wipes his eyes, "…so be it."

Shion tries to figure out a way to comfort her date, "You shouldn't give up. At least, not until you know everything." She paused again, "While we were out, she only talked about you. It was all good but I don't think it's my place to tell you what she said." Naruto smiles and then looks at her.

"That may be, but when Sasuke comes back; things will go back to the way they were. I've made my peace with it." Naruto smiles and even shion can tell that it isn't a real smile but she says nothing about it. She just smiles back and says that she's ready to go home.

Naruto walks her home. Shion thanks him for dinner and the tour of the village. Sakura answers the door, says good night to Naruto, and watches him disappear down the street. She turns her attention to shion "So, how'd it go? Was he a gentleman? He didn't do anything pervy did he?"

Shion laughs "No, he was on his best behavior." She looks at Sakura "thank you for being such a gracious hostess I've really enjoyed my stay in your village." She was about to go to sleep for the night when something popped up in her mind. "it must have cost you a lot trouble to set this up."

Sakura thought about it a little bit, "Yeah, but he is worth it. He always sacrifices anything and everything he has to make me happy. He has always given his everything, not just for me, but for the entire village." She pauses and a smile flashes across her face, "He deserves to be happy… like he makes me happy."

Shion gets a suspicious look on her face. "You really love him don't you?"

**Yeah we Do!  
**_Shut up! Not right now! This isn't the time!_

Sakura starts to blush "No, he is just a friend. I want him to be happy that is all." Sakura speeds through her sentence, "Well you've had a busy day and you should get your rest I'll see you in the morning." She rushes off to bed and hits her leg and lets out a yelp and watches her books fall to the floor she hurries to pick them up.

"But Sakura…"

"Goodnight." Sakura yells back from room and pretends to fall asleep

Shion turns the light out in the guest room and she starts to fall asleep. _She's just lying to herself._ Shion falls asleep.

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Well there you have it. Cahpter 3 in all of its fanfiction-y glory. As you can probably tell I've decided to make the other characters OOC as well to balance out the story a bit. I hope I succeeded. Like I sadi in the previous chapter I'm not askin' for reviews (I bet Ya'll thought I was playin') beggin for reviews makes feel like some sort of review addict and I haven't gotten enough reviews to be addicted to them... (falls into a trance-like state) no matter how good they made me feel (Snaps out of it). Thank you all for reading I hope you enjoyed it.

Chapter 4 will be up soon so until then, Deuces


	4. Sleepless in Konoha

Oh this is so tiring and depressing **I don't own Naruto nor do I own the movie Sleepless in Seattle on which the title of this story is based**

Here is the fourth chapter of Smile Again. the directly follows the events of chapter 3 any OOC-ness is probably intentional but I still apologize if anyone gets offended.

Summary: Sakura and Naruto can't sleep because of their respective delimmas (I'm almost certain that I spelled that wrong) and they need advice who do they get it from?

I now present to you the 4th chapter in this story "Sleepless in Konoha" (sorry it was the best I could come up with). please Read Review and Enjoy Thank you

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Sleepless in Konoha

"Goodnight." Sakura yells back from room and pretends to fall asleep

She tosses and turns trying to force herself to sleep. "This is ridiculous," she says in disbelief of the fact that she's actually losing sleep over this, "Where's that old picture?" She turns and looks on her dresser.

She scans her room for the picture they took as team seven. She reaches over and takes the picture off of the nightstand. She stares at the picture. _Why can't I fall asleep?_ She thinks as her eyes roam the picture. She sees her old teacher Kakashi. She can't see his face but it is very obvious he's smiling. Her eyes continue to study her old picture. They fall on her. _Maybe I should grow my hair out again._ She thought and then remembered why she grew it out in the first place as her eyes reached her former love.

There were times when just saying his name would put her at ease and allow her to sleep through the night. There were times when just the thought of a future with him would fill her heart with joy and a look further into the future could get her through the worst nights of her life. She stayed focused on his image like she had done so many nights before; Long ago.

It wasn't like that anymore. _When did my feelings change?_ She thought long and hard about that question and then she remembered one of the worst nights of her life. A tear streamed down her face.

_I had finally found the courage to speak. I had finally found my resolve and I was prepared to do anything to make him stay. If that didn't work I was prepared to do anything so that I could be with him. I poured my heart out to him._ A few more tears came._ I was prepared to turn my back on my home, my family, and my friends. I was prepared to be declared an enemy of Konoha and all he could tell me was thank you. I told him that I loved him with tears in my eyes and…and all he could say was thank you._

Remembering the pain she felt on that night still made her cry but she wasn't sad over him any more. She stopped being sad a long time ago. She was angry for awhile but even that didn't last too long. Now when ever she saw him she felt nothing. She wanted him back simply because Naruto tried so hard to bring him back, but secretly, she didn't care if he ever came back. He had caused so much trouble for everyone in his pursuit of power and he didn't care. She continued to study the picture wondering how she could ever care about someone like him; how could anyone? She looks at his picture and notices his face. _He doesn't even look like he wants to be part of the team. I always thought it was because he didn't like taking pictures but I don't think he wanted to be in the group at all._ She still was unable to sleep and her thoughts of Sasuke didn't help at all.

She gets out of bed and walks over to her vanity and turns on the lamp. She thinks she sees something in the mirror. She quickly turns around and sees nothing but the branches moving. _Must've been a bird or the wind._ She picks up her brush and starts to brush her hair. She decides to see if her friend is still awake. She gets dressed and decides to go through her window.

She walks through the village. It's quiet at night and there aren't many people out. She decides to take the long way to her friend's house. She passes Naruto's house and stops for a second. _Maybe I should talk to him. I should ask him why he's been avoiding me._ She starts to head to his front door but notices that all of his lights are off. _He must be sleeping. It's probably for the best._ She sighs and continues toward her friend's house. _I'm just getting what I deserve anyway. If he treated me the way I've treated him in the past I wouldn't want to talk to him either._ She eventually reaches her friends house.

"Ino…" She says in a loud whisper, "Ino… are you awake?" she picks up a small stone and tosses it at her friend's window. She thinks about going home and decides that she has to talk to someone. "Wake up pig" She says it in the same loud whisper. _She always hears that._ She thought with a smirk

Sure enough Ino opens her window. "Who're you callin' pig, billboard brow?" despite the time she was wide awake.

"I need to talk to someone."

"Well… why don't you talk to Naruto?" her tone was slightly annoyed once she had realized what time it was, "He would actually be_ happy_ to wake up this late just to talk." Ino notices her friend's facial expression. "What's wrong, billboard brow?"

A few tears stream down Sakura's face. "He won't talk to me "Ino is shocked at the news her friend just brought her, "He's been avoiding me for almost an entire week now."

"It's ok Sakura, come on up and we'll talk about it." Sakura quickly climbs the tree and lands on the balcony to Ino's room.

"What's going on between you two?" Ino asks, "I've never heard of him not wanting to talk to you, much less avoid you altogether" She wipes Sakura's tears

"I know, I don't know what to do." Sakura said trying to hold back tears "Sasuke already left me but I can't do it again. I can't go through the hurt of losing my best friend." Ino just watched urging her friend to continue, "Ever since I saw him in bandages after the first time he went to get Sasuke, I've always worried about him. When we fought on the bridge, I was ready to pour out the last bit of my charka so that his pain would stop. When I saw him change, all I could think was that Naruto was somewhere inside of that monster and that I had to reach him somehow. I had to make his pain stop."

"Why don't you find him and make him talk to you?" Ino said still wiping her friend's tears, "Why don't you tell him how you feel?" Desperately trying to think of something that would make Sakura feel better.

"Because Ino, I've hurt him so much." Ino is confused as Sakura cries a little more, "When we were in the academy I would ignore him. I saw that all he wanted to do was be my friend and still I looked at him as if he were a monster." The tears were flowing freely, "When we were assigned teams… I hated him. He was annoying and he kept getting in the way of me and Sasuke. Even when I told them this … He still tried to make me feel better whenever Sasuke rejected me. Do you know what I did when he would try to make me feel better?" Ino looked at her friend almost afraid of the answer, "I would hit him and call him annoying." Sakura starts sobbing into her friends shoulder.

Ino continues to try to console her friend, "Well despite all of that he still talked to you." Ino said, trying to find anything that would ease her friend's pain. Sakura looked up from her friend's shoulder and Ino continued "I heard about what he did during the chunin exams and the promise he made when Sasuke left." Sakura started to cry again. Ino stopped her, "He did that for you… He did it all for you. What you did to him in the past didn't matter. Not to him." Sakura sat up, "So, I doubt that he would stop caring about you all of a sudden." Sakura wiped her eyes and stood up. Ino smiled.

"Thank you Ino," Sakura jumped down from the balcony.

Ino nods and starts to walk back to her room. She remembers something and turns around, "You really should tell him how you feel." With that, she heads back to bed.

Sakura heads back towards her house, puzzled by her friend's statement. _What does she mean how I feel?_

_--Earlier that night—_

Naruto walks Shion to the door and when Sakura answers he says good night and disappears down the street. _It's still to hard, I still can't talk to her._ He thinks as he takes a seat on a bench near Sakura's house. _Won't do any good to go home. I've got too much on my mind to sleep anyway._ He hears a yelp and a crash and goes to see if any one was hurt.

He reaches the place where the noise came from and it turns out to be Sakura's. _I can't go up there now she will think I'm a stalker or some other nonsense._ But he still had to see if she was ok something inside of him wouldn't let it go until he was sure.

He decided to climb the tree that was outside of her room. _Good she's ok and sound asleep._ Just as he was about to move again he notices that she is just pretending to sleep. Naruto stays perfectly still and watches her as she grabs the old picture of team seven. He had seen enough but he couldn't bring himself to move. His heart felt like it was breaking all over again. _Why Sakura? Why can't you love me like I have loved you?_ He sat on the lonely tree branch pondering this question over and over again. she starts to head to the vanity and turns on the lamp. "Oh Sh…" he jumps out of the tree and manages to hit a few other tree branches so it looks like the wind or some animal. He heads home and tries to sleep. He can't. He stares out of his window and turns off his light so that he can see out of the window better. He sees a figure stop in front of his house and notices that it is Sakura. _Should I go and talk to her? What would I say? It's best not to go. She's probably wondering why I've been avoiding her. I can't explain that._ He decides to see if Kiba is awake. He was closet to Naruto after Sasuke. He gets dressed and heads out of his backe window.

He finds Kiba lying in the park. "Hey Kiba," He looks up and sees his friend standing over him. "You think we could talk?"

"Uhh…sure." Kiba sits up. "What's up?"

"I can't sleep." Naruto sees Kiba give a Not-This-Again look. Naruto ignores it, "she will never love me, will she?"

"Why do you think that?"

"Because she keeps looking at that picture and she cries every time she looks at Sasuke's picture."

"That could be for any number of reasons," Kiba reasoned. "Did you talk to her about it?"

Naruto looks down, "I can't bring myself to do it. It hurts so much to look her in her eyes and know that she will never feel what I feel." Naruto continued, "I know she'll never feel that way because when we were younger and just getting into the teams she hated me." Kiba looks at his friends stunned by this revelation, "She would call me annoying and hit me when all I was trying to do was make her feel better about being rejected by Sasuke. All I wanted back then was to be her friend and she would just look at me and treat me as if I were some sort of monster." Naruto keeps a tear from running down his cheek, "through all of that I still wanted her and I've tried to move on but my heart is fixed and it won't move. It hurts me to talk to her but it hurts me to avoid her."

Kiba gave it some thought, "Naruto, she wasn't always like that towards you and she's certainly not that way now. I heard about that time on the bridge when you went berserk and ended up attacking her and despite that she still called out to you. Anyone else would have been scared to death and may have avoided _you_ but she didn't. She knew you were still _you_ and she stayed your friend." Naruto looked away in shame, "Now the least, the very least you could do is talk to her. She has proven that she would be there Sasuke or no Sasuke. Give her a chance and tell her how you feel."

Naruto smiles, "Thank you Kiba." He turns to leave and stops. "What are you doing out here in the park?"

Kiba becomes slightly agitated, "Dude, mind yo business."

Naruto smiles again, "Hinata is on the other side of the...." Before he can turn around Kiba has gotten up and hurried to the other side of the park.

Naruto heads back to his house. _Kiba's right. I should talk to her. She doesn't deserve to be treated like this especially not by me._

Naruto goes in his house through the back way. He goes to looks out his window and sees Sakura walking. _She must be headed home._ He thinks, with a smile. _I'm Sorry._ He heads back to his room and lies on his bed and closes his eyes._ Sakura-Chan._ He drifts off to sleep.

Sakura reaches her house and climbs the tree to her window. She walks to her vanity and picks up her picture of team seven and lies on her bed. _I'm sorry._ Her eyes rest on Naruto's image._ Please never stop caring about me._ She closes her eyes as sleep starts to overtake her. _Because I will always care about you._ She holds the picture to her chest. _Naruto._ She smiles and falls asleep.

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Thanks again for reading my story. This one is nearing its end. I know that because I am havin ga lil trouble figurin out where to go from here I would really appreciate the help. It seems ashame to waste a good chapter on a terrible ending and that wouldn't be fair to you guys who read this story. I would really appreciate the help.

At any rate thank you for reading this chapter and i hope you enjoyed reading it as much as i enjoyed writing it. Until my next post, Deuces!!


	5. Catch Me if You Can

**There's a guy in Japan. He owns Naruto while I sit at home with nothing and that makes me sad all day.**

Sorry for the (relatively) long absence. I was short on ideas. I tried to come up with something that I think is relatively a new idea. In any case I've got a brand new chapter hot off the presses. (I didn't really print this). Because the last chapter didn't have inner Sakura I've decided to put her in this one.

Chapter Summary: Sakura tries to find a way to talk to Naruto. I wonder how she plans to do it.

Now I've held you up long enough. Pleases sit back, relax (Seriously make the words bigger so you can sit back and read it's a lot more comfortable trust me.), and enjoy the show. Please Read Enjoy and Review Thank You.

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Catch Me If You Can

The next morning Sakura woke up and she had made a decision.

_I'm gonna talk to him.  
_**When are we gonna talk to him!?!  
**_Probably after all of my work for the day is finished.  
_**Why do we have to wait so long!?!  
**_Why are you always screaming?  
_**I don't know! It's your mind!  
**_Whatever. We have to wait because I still have responsibilities to the village.  
_**You're scared of something!!  
**_What!?! Please, what should I be scared of?  
_**....  
**_Fine!! What if he still tries to avoid me?  
_**Then we find him and make him listen!!  
**_It doesn't work unless he wants to talk to me.  
_**Fine!!**

Sakura heads to the Hokage's office to start her days work. She passes by the ramen stand and sees Naruto talking to Ten-Ten. Sakura tries to ignore it but the pang in her heart keeps dragging her head over to the two nin standing there talking. She can't make out any words but she doesn't need to. She sees Naruto talking and then Ten-Ten places a hand on his shoulder while throwing her head back and laughing. Not giggling like a ditsy air head. Laughing like an idiot who had never heard a joke before in their entire life.

**I oughta go ova there and rip those buns right off her head and shove 'em up her…  
**_Calm down. We don't know what they're talkin about  
_**I don't need to know! All I need to know is that she's too close and…  
**_We talked about this earlier. If he doesn't wanna talk forcing him won't work.  
_**But… But…  
**_I'll talk to somebody else because at the moment you're completely useless._

She sends word to the Hokage that she will be taking the day off. She was able to get this because she still had the negatives of Tsunade at the bar. _I'm gonna get killed for this eventually._ She thought with a frown. _This better be worth it._ She thinks of Naruto's smiling face._ Who am I kidding? It's totally worth it._ She decides to head to the flower shop to talk to Ino.

When she opens the door Ino hangs her head frustration. "Billboard Brow I swear to God if this is about that _idiot,_ I will…" She is interrupted by a flying flower pot.

"Don't talk about him like that!!" Sakura screamed. The few customers in the shop slid past her and made their escape. Sakura lets out a sigh of relief. "Sorry Ino, I needed to talk to you alone." Ino's mouth drops and a vain in her forehead starts to throb. "Calm down Ino, it's not about Naruto… although it is of a related matter." Ino's vain disappears and Sakura just hopes that it didn't burst. The clean up would have been very time consuming and she had something important to do today. "I need a way to talk to Naruto but I don't think he would want to." Sakura looks at Ino.

"What makes you think that he won't talk to you?" Ino asked frustrated. She was getting tired of telling Sakura the same things over and over. "He's Naruto. He's practically devoted his life to making sure you were happy… at any cost." Ino was tired and upset and on top of that Sakura had chased away all of the paying customers.

"Ino, I saw him talkin with Ten-Ten." She was getting distraught. It wasn't even making sense to herself anymore. She continued anyway, "If he would talk to her then why won't he talk to me?" Ino starts to rub her temples. She has heard enough.

"Look, Forehead, if you want to know whether he wants to speak to you or not then maybe you should leave him a note." Ino sighs a bit as she looks up, "That way if he wants to talk to you then he would come and find you." Ino sees her friend smile. "Yeah you could even have a lil fun with it if you want."

"What kinda fun?" Sakura asked skeptically. She knew that Naruto wasn't Ino's favorite person in the world.

"Find out how bad he wants to talk to you. You know? Make him chase you a bit." Ino's smile had turned into an evil smirk. However, Sakura was still listening.

"Ok. But what if he doesn't want to talk to me?"

"You let me handle that." Ino's evil smirk grew into a sinister grin.

"Ok, thanks Ino." Sakura left the shop. Ino let out a sigh of relief.

Sakura went home to write her note.

_Okay what should I write?  
_**How about: Naruto you better get your sorry…  
**_Shut up!! If your not gonna say something constructive then you shouldn't say anything.  
_**What!?! I was givin you gold!!  
**_Whatever. How about: I would appreciate it if…  
_**Lame!!!  
**_Well I can't use anything you're givin. You'll scare him away.  
_**Well you certainly can't use anything you're putting!!  
**_Why not?  
_**Are you kidding!?! It won't even hold his attention!!  
**_I got it I'll make it very short._

Naruto was on his way home when Ino stopped him. "How could you do that to her Naruto!?!" Naruto was clearly confused but tried to keep his composure, "How could you do that to Sakura!?!" Naruto gasped in shock.

He would never hurt Sakura. That's why he was avoiding her. He wanted to make way for Sasuke when he returned. He didn't want to make her have to go through the pain of having to choose one or the other. "Ino wh…"

Ino cuts him off. The more he talks, the higher the chance he'll find out that this is a ruse, "She has disturbed me twice all because you won't talk to her!" Ino had to really sell it now, "Would you really prefer to talk to Ten-Ten over Sakura!? Would you really like to let Sakura go out of your life… forever!?!" Ino saw him turn his head. She almost has him. "Do you like to make her cry?" Naruto hangs his head. _Maybe I went too far._ "I know you don't want to see her cry so just go and talk to her."

Naruto rushes home. _When can I talk to her? She's probably still at work so I'll go wait for her there. I just need to stop by my house first._

He reaches his house and sees a note attached to his front door. He picks it up and reads it.

_Dear Naruto_

_Go to the training grounds as soon as you read this_

_Sakura_

He immediately turns and heads to the training grounds. When he arrives he sees another note attached to the post that he was tied to. He reads this one as well.

_Dear Naruto_

_You've really hurt me and I can't bear it too much longer. If you ignore me, then there really is nothing left for me in this village. So I'm leaving. The only way to keep me here is to catch me. Prove to me that you want me._

_Catch me if you can  
__Haruno Sakura_

Naruto immediately panics and wonders how much time he has. Even worse how was he supposed to know where to look for her? The village was too big to just start anywhere so he decides to read the letter again. He sees a PS at the bottom of the paper.

_PS. Look up._

He looks up and sees Sakura standing in a tree at the edge of the training grounds. A smile appears on his face.

He gets a running start and jumps after Sakura. Sakura turns and runs. They jump from branch to branch until they reach the main streets of the village. Sakura jumps down and runs through the streets. Naruto follows. She turns a corner and flips over a veggie cart. Naruto jumps over it. Sakura grabs a bag of oranges and starts to throw them over her shoulder at Naruto. Somehow each orange managed to find Naruto's face. Sakura continues to run through the streets of Konoha. "Oh, hi Lee." Sakura says as she passes by. "What a strange occurrence." Lee says confused, He sees Naruto running as well. He decides to try to ask Naruto about what he just saw. "Oi, Naruto…" Lee stops as he sees a fist flying towards his face. "Not now Bushy Brow!" the fist connects and sends Lee flying through the door of the sandal store. "Sorry bushy brow!!" Naruto screams back in apology. He turns to continue his pursuit.

Lee sits up and rubs his face. "Ahhh… the fire of youth still burns strong." Lee smiles and continues his laps around the city. "That is a good thing because it was starting to get dull!"

Sakura turns and gives him a smirk. She jumps to the side of the building and continues up to the roof tops. Naruto follows. They are now nearing the Hokage's office. Sakura jumps on the balcony and greets her boss. "Hi, Tsunade-Sama!" Sakura says and before she can look up Sakura has already made it to the top of the building. She goes to her window and sees Naruto jumping up to the balcony. "Hey Granny!" She looks up after him and shouts, "I told you not to call me granny!!" she sighs in frustration and exasperation and heads back into her office. "Looks like the peace is over." She smiles and shrugs "Ehhh… it was starting to get a lil boring around here any way." Sakura head across the roof towards the Hokage mountain (A/N: I don't know the actual name for it sorry). She goes to the top and over to whatever was behind the mountain. Naruto follows and finds a large forest area. He follows her.

She goes back to traveling the tree tops. She reaches a clearing with a lake and stops. She turns around and waits for Naruto knowing that she won't have to wait long. Just as she predicted Naruto soon landed in the clearing.

She smiles. _Thank you Naruto._ "Took you long enough."

* * *

There you go, the fifth chapter of Smile Again, I hope that I didn't disappoint. I know it was sort of a long wait and to be honest I'm not really sure about how long the next wait will be (as corny and cliché as it may sound, reviews really do speed up the process. I don't even need a lot of reviews I'm easy). Ideas are running by me at the slowest pace they can and those aren't very good. To be honest I don't know if this idea was any good. But this is the idea that stuck with me.

In light of this, I'm asking you to please review and tell me what you think of this idea and any suggestions for the final chapter (the next one) would be greatly appreciated.

Whether you decide to review or not I want to thank those of you who took the time to read my story and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Until my next post, Deuces.


	6. That Smile

Blah blah blah **I don't own Naruto **

So here it is, the final chapter of Smile Again. Naruto and Sakura got OOC but I tried to bring them back towards the end.

Now I give to you the final chapter of Smile Again. Please Read Enjoy and Review Thank you.

* * *

That Smile

"Took you long enough." She says in mock frustration. Her smile softens but she keeps her back to Naruto. "I'm really glad that you decided to come."

Naruto is taken aback at her statement. "Did you really think I would let you leave me without any attempt to get you to stay?" Naruto is saddened at her assumption. _Did I really make her think this?_ "Sakura the only thing that means more to me than getting Sasuke back is that you're happy."

"Then… Why Naruto?" Her voice waivers, giving Naruto the impression that she is crying. "Why would you ignore me?" She can't face him. No matter how much she wants to see his face, she can't let him see her cry. She had done such a good job of not crying in front of him. She didn't want to make it seem as if he was hurting her, even if he was. "If you won't be my friend then how could I force myself to stay here?" She stared into the lake. "With Sasuke gone…" She pauses trying to find the words to say, "… you're all that I have left." Naruto's eyes widen.

She starts to remember that day when Sasuke left. The emotions start to flood back. The anger, the disbelief, the disappointment, the depression; It all feels the same. She feels as if she is losing Naruto and she doesn't know what to do then she feels the worst feeling. She had hoped that this feeling wouldn't return. She had worked hard to banish this feeling from her mind. She had worked hard so that she wouldn't have to feel this way ever again. She had gone through years of horrible training and years of physical and mental suffering just to prove that she was strong and that she was: more than a distraction, more than a hindrance, more than some weak kunoichi that could do nothing more than get in the way. Yet, all at once, it was all crashing down and she started to feel worthless all over again.

"Sakura-Chan…" Naruto broke the uncomfortable silence, "… I'm sorry that I've hurt you." He apologizes, "You are all that I have too… you know?" Sakura still doesn't move, "You're all I have ever had. When we were younger and you would be on the playground and all of those bullies would pick on you I swore to myself then that one day I would get strong enough to protect you."

Sakura remembers those kids. They pulled on her hair saying that her short hair was ugly and that they would help it grow. She remembered them thumping her on the forehead while commenting on how big it was. They said that she was ugly and that the only way anyone would love her is if she left the village and went to a place where everyone's forehead was as big as hers was. She remembered that one day all of the taunting just stopped all of a sudden.

"One day…" Naruto's voice shakes her out of her trance, "… I had followed them after they had left the park. They had stopped at the store and I went in there and beat them all up. I told them that they needed to apologize. I don't know if they did or not." Naruto let out a small chuckle, "The next time I saw you at the playground you looked really happy and I was satisfied with the work I had done." Naruto gazed into the lake. "The point is that you have always been the one that I would protect. When I was finally assigned to team seven with you and Sasuke, it was a dream come true for me. Then Sasuke left and I just had you. I swore to myself then that I would do anything to make you happy."

Another silence follows but this one isn't as uncomfortable as the previous silence. This silence is peaceful; allowing both Naruto and Sakura some time to think. Naruto breaks the silence first, "So, do you know why I was avoiding you for so long?" Sakura takes a seat on the grass next to the lake. "I was trying to prepare you…" Naruto has to gather himself, "… for when Sasuke came back." Naruto lets out a sigh and continues. "I was trying to get you… both of us… used to not having me around." Naruto pauses and decides to continue. "I know that you love Sasuke and I know that I would just be in the way of you two." Sakura is stunned by his thoughts.

"Naruto I…" Sakura is unable to finish.

"Why can't you love me Sakura-Chan?" Naruto asks in a calm voice. Sakura is shocked back into her silence, "I know you're about to say that you do love me but I don't mean just as a friend. Why can't you love me like you love Sasuke? Why can't you love me the way that I love you?" Naruto almost breaks down but he is able to gather himself once more. "I saw you when I had first returned from my mission. You had fallen asleep with a picture of him on your chest." Naruto can't control his voice any longer. It starts to get shaky, "That's what sealed it for me. I knew that you would always love him. I knew that you … could… never love… me." Naruto wipes his eyes and gains control of his voice. "So I went through the process of disappearing from your life."

"Naruto, I don't love Sasuke like that anymore." Sakura says through teary eyes. She stands up still unwilling to look at Naruto. "I just wanted everyone to stop picking on me so I just went along with what everyone else was doing. They were all fawning over Sasuke, so that's what I did as well." Sakura wipes her eyes, "I hurt when he left because he was a teammate. I followed him to that bridge because I had convinced myself that I really loved him. It wasn't until he was gone that I started to think clearly. It wasn't until I gained confidence that I was able to sort through and do away with those old feelings of false love and desired acceptance." Sakura turned and faced Naruto and caught his eyes.

They were the same deep blue that she had fallen for without even knowing it. But they were filled with sadness instead of joy… or mischief… or happiness… or whatever they were normally filled with. The only thing that Sakura knew was that his eyes were not normal _Naruto_ eyes.

Sakura took a deep breath and prepared to bare her soul to the blond ninja. For better or for worse she would lay it all on the line. "You know Naruto, I've really missed you. I've never known how big a part you played in my life. There were times that I didn't want to go to work because I didn't know if you would be there afterwards. When I got depressed and didn't feel like working you weren't there to cheer me up. When I got hungry I couldn't even look at a bowl of ramen because you weren't there to try to steal it." She and Naruto let out a small chuckle. "Sometimes I found it hard to sleep knowing that you wouldn't be there the next morning. So I would pull out that old picture of team seven and think of the old times. I would think back to when the only thing we would have to worry about was whether or not Kakashi would show up late or not."

Naruto laughs, "Yeah, fat load of good that did." Sakura laughs to, "He was still late and the only time he showed up on time was when we had one of his pervy books." Sakura heard his genuine laugh and everything got a little clearer. Every thing got a little brighter.

"You know what else I would think about when I had that picture?" She continued. She got the smile she wanted, but this was bigger than that now. This was about how she felt she loved Naruto and he needed to know that. He needed to know how much she cared about him. "Every time I grabbed that picture my eyes would end up on you." Sakura starts to walk towards Naruto, "I would remember your smile; even if you weren't smiling in the picture. That smile comforted me through these past few nights. That smile got me through those nights when you were away training with Jiraiya-Sama." She reaches Naruto and their eyes meet once again. His eyes are different now. They are not filled with grief, pain, or sadness. Instead, they are filled with that old mixture of happiness and confidence. She grabs Naruto by his waist and holds on tight. And Naruto returns her embrace. "Please Naruto I need you. I care about you." She buries her head in his chest as he continues to hold her and rub her back. "I love you, Naruto."

All of a sudden Sakura can't feel him any longer. The comforting touch of his hands fell off of her back. The warmth of his embrace left her. She looked up to see him just standing there with a stupid grin on his face. "Naruto?" She shook him a little, "Naruto, aren't you going to say… or _do_ anything?" She was starting to get irritated. She had just poured out her heart, and all he could do was stand there grinning like an idiot. "Baka!!!" She turned her hips and threw Naruto into the lake. "I don't believe that you could just stand there, like a moron, when I've just emptied out every feeling that I've felt for you! To think, I thought that you would be able to handle something like this! Especially when you ask me why I don't love you! Now that I tell you that I do love you; you lock up like statue! If I have to come in there and drag you outta that lake I promise you won't like it!" Sakura was beside herself when she started to walk towards the lake.

As soon as she got to the edge Naruto shoots up out of the middle of the lake. "Dattebayo!!!" He lands on the edge nest to Sakura and grabs her and holds her tight.

"Naruto…" She is struggling to breathe, "… Naruto that's too tight." Sakura raises a hand and drops it on Naruto's head. Sakura doubles over and gathers herself. "That was too tight!" He stands up.

"Sorry Sakura-Chan." Naruto has a smile on his face that, apparently, no amount of pain can wipe away. As Sakura sees his smile she can't stay mad at him and they start to head back to the village.

As they walk to the forest Naruto continues to ramble on and on about how happy he is and something about ramen. Sakura just looks at him smile. The smile she had longed for. The smile she had cried for. The smile that made everyday just a little bit brighter. She finally had it back.

Now if only she could get him to shut up.

* * *

There you have it the last chapter and thus the end of Smile Again. Thanks to all who read. A special thanks to those of you who favorited and put this story on your list of alerts. It helped me to know that you guys wanted me to continue this story. And a special thanks to xkittycatgirlx for your review it really helped.

That being said I bid you all a fond farewell. I hope you enjoyed reading my story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Until my next post Deuces!!!


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